Lifeshare, Manchester’s oldest homelessness charity, has been around for a long time. They’ve seen changes in the city for the last 40 years but for 29 years one thing that has remained constant is their Weekend Breakfast Project. Every Saturday and Sunday (and since 2022 Fridays as well) the city’s rough sleepers are welcomed in with open arms for a hot full english breakfast by Lifeshare’s dedicated volunteers.
Guests are greeted at the door, with the only question asked ‘What is your name?’ This allows guests to be treated with the respect they deserve, although there are some jokesters who invent themselves anew or take on the pseudonym of famous faces like Marcus Rashford, or Gary Neville.
Once inside guests are invited to take a seat and volunteers come to take orders for teas and coffees. Once they have a warm drink in hand they place their order for breakfast which is hand delivered by a caring volunteer.
The service provides more than just meals, there are also showers on offer as well as access to a clothing bank of donated items to help keep them warm, healthy and dry. The service is open from 7am-9am on Saturdays and Sundays but on Friday they have extended hours from 7-11am. The additional hours are part of GMCA’s Homelessness Action Plan as step one - Respite. A warm safe space to take a break and hopefully engage with much needed support and community. In 2023 Lifeshare has already served just under 12,000 breakfasts, compared to 6,000 in the entirety of 2022. With over 300 guests served each weekend their services are clearly needed.
When asked what the Breakfast Project meant to them guest responses included:
“A lot, relief from stress”
“It means that I can have warm food”
“life or death, Prison or freedom”
Lifeshare’s project is primarily staffed by volunteers who give up their time in the early hours each week to make this support possible. Lifeshare recruit new volunteers from January to October each year so if you’d like to get involved you can sign up for their newsletter here to be notified of the next induction. If you’d like to buy a breakfast for someone in your city you can do so here.